Safe Haven
by Alliecat445
Summary: Malfoy Manor has been a place of evil for so many, but for Albus it is home. Scorbus.


**This is my first story and I am not the best at English so if there is any glaring mistakes please comment and I will try to fix them as quickly as I can. This story is also AU as it does not follow Cursed Child and the character might be a bit different.**

 **Enjoy :)**

year 1 Easter

When first year Slitheren, Albus Potter, mentioned his best friend's name during the Christmas break, he was not anticipating such a negative response. His Uncle Ron's face went red with anger and started to grumble about those "filthy Malfoys". His Aunt Hermione winced at the name, but at least tried to hide it. His mum pursed her lips like she often did when James did something stupid or horrible. His dad tried to pretend he didn't have a problem, but Albus saw how something flashed in his eyes. Rose mumbled something about how, from what she's seen, Scorpius seemed weird. And James looked like he was imaging punching someone. Sensing the tension in the room, Albus quickly changed the topic to his grades.

Albus hadn't even had the chance to fully answer the question of who his dorm mates were. All he said was "Scorpius Malfoy" and everyone had acted like he had said a filthy word. He was glad that he hadn't mentioned to his family that Scorpios was his best mate.

The first time Scorpius asked Albus to visit Malfoy Manor was during Easter holidays their first year.

"Come on Al, please."

"You know I can't Scrop. I told you how my family reacted at Christmas". After the incident at Christmas, they had agreed to be friends in secret.

"I know, but it will only be me and dad and it's lonely being in that big house all alone. I almost died during Christmas and at least then my grandparents were staying with us." Scorpius let out a dramatic sigh and flopped onto Albus's bed.

"I'm sorry Scorp, but there's nothing I can do." Albus hated this, it just wasn't fair. James had spent every Easter holiday at a friend's house since he started Hogwarts and this year Rose and a group of girls from Gryffindor were going camping over break.

Albus laid down beside his blond haired friend and sighed. Suddenly Scorpius sat up.

"I got it!" he yelled excitingly.

"Got what?" Albus asked confused.

"I know how you can come over."

Albus raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"Well, what if you don't tell anyone." He said simply.

"What do you mean?" Albus asked.

"Okay, so, you said that since no one will be around that your family isn't having a big Easter dinner. And James and Rose will be with friends. And the rest of your cousins at school will either be away or wouldn't know where you're supposed to be. So what if you told your mum and dad that you're staying at Hogwarts then come home with me." Scorpios explained.

"I don't know Sorp…..Do you think we could actually pull it off?

"Yeah, of course we could. Come on Albus."

"But what about your dad?" Albus asked, still not convinced.

"I know he'll like you once he gets to know you." Scorpios reassured.

"I don't know….."

"Oh come on please. Please please please please please please please plea-"

"Fine." Albus said cutting off the other boy.

"Yes!" Scorpios cheered. "We are going to have so much fun."

That night the boys stayed up late scheming. The next day Albus wrote home informing his parents that he would be staying at school. They wrote back telling him they would miss him, but hoped that he would have a good Easter. A few days before the break Scorpios wrote his father asking if he could have a friend over for Easter. It was the day before the start of the holiday that Scorpios heard back from him

 _Dear Scorpios,_

 _Yes you may have a friend stay over during the Easter holiday. It was not lost on me that you did not specify which friend you had invited over. Since I have informed you before that there are very few whom I would disapprove of you being friends with, I am a bit worried of who you are bringing home. I would demand that you tell me who it is, but you will probably arrive before a letter. I am giving you a chance that this is all a misunderstanding, so be grateful that I am allowing you to have this friend over at all. Please remember to pack any cloths that are worn out or no longer fit you._

 _Love, Your Father_

The day they were to head to the train, Albus made it a point to act like he wasn't leaving. He made sure he stuff was unpacked, only throwing a few cloths into Scorpius's bag, and when he went down to breakfast he took his time eating. He even talked to James about how he was looking forward to a few days at school without him. When it came time to leave, Albus said goodbye to Rose before quickly changing into a Muggle hoodie, and rushing towards the train. The whole journey, Albus kept his hood up and head down.

They waited until the platform was almost completely empty before going to meet Mr. Malfoy. Albus was worried, his own family reactions were playing in his mind and he was scared about how Scorpius's dad was going to react.

"There you are. I was beginning to worry that you had missed the train, son." Mr. Malfoy said, engulfing Scorpius in a hug. Scorpius grumbled about how his dad was embarrassing him and pulled away. Mr. Malfoy then stretched his hand out to Albus.

"You must be my Son's mystery friend." Mr. Malfoy said in a more serious tone. Albus gulped, but shook his hand.

"Y-Yes. Albus, sir, Albus Potter." Albus said nervously. At the name Potter, Mr. Malfoy pulled back a little.

"A Potter eh? Well I guess I know why Scorpios didn't mention who he wanted to come over. Out of all the people you could be friends with and it had to be a Potter?" Mr. Malfoy grumbled, though he didn't really look upset.

"Well Potter, I hope you're okay with apparating." Mr. Malfoy said taking both boy hands.

The next few days were some of the best Albus had ever had. During the day they would play outdoors. Climbing trees, playing hide and seek, playing catch with a Quaffle, since neither one of them were particularly fond of Quidditch, exploring the grounds, and spying on some of the Muggles who lived close by. In the evenings they would join Mr. Malfoy for supper after changing and washing up. After that, they would drink hot coco while they sat and talked in the Malfoy Library, Scorpius's favorite room.

Though a guest room had been set up for Albus to use, he only slept in there the first night. During the second night Albus had woken Scorpios up and told him how he was having trouble sleeping in such a big empty room. Scorpios had then insisted that Albus shared his bed, since there was lots of room for both of them.

For Easter, the house elves prepared a special feast which Mr. Malfoy had insisted they thanked them for.

"Trust me boys when I say that one of the biggest mistakes you can ever make is to mistreat a house elf."

They had used the fancy plates, and sat in the grand dining room that could sit around twenty more people comfortably. Albus thought that the whole thing was a bit much since it was only the three of them. He understood why Scorpios had bagged for him to stay over. Albus couldn't imagine being the only child in such a big house. Before they started eating Mr. Malfoy toasted to Astoria, Scorpius's mother, who Albus had known died well Scorpios was very young.

The boys were forced to explain what they had done when Mr. Malfoy asked why they were insisting on arriving so early at Kings Cross. Though Mr. Malfoy had said that Scorpios would be punished when he returned home for summer, he had agreed not to tell Albus's parents. He had said something about how it was "revenge on Harry" and told them that their plan was so good that it would be a shame to be ruined at the very end. When they arrived at platform 9 and ¾, only a handful of other students had arrived. Scorpius and Albus easily found a compartment.

"You know, I like it at your house Scorp." Albus said as they waited for the train to leave.

"Really?" The other boy asked.

"Yeah. We should start planning on how I can come over next time."

-

year 1 Summer

The summer between his first and second year had started out bad for Albus. First, James was being an ass. Then, he got grounded for trying to get him back by putting a dung bomb in his bed. The problem with being grounded when both Harry and Ginny worked all day was figuring out what to do with him. Obviously they couldn't leave him home alone with James, and going over to the Wesley-Grangers with Lily wasn't much of a punishment when he would be able to hang out with Rose all day. So, after some discussion, it was decided that Albus was to go with his father to work.

At first Albus was pretty bummed, until he found out where his dad would be working for most of the summer. By some miracle, his father was working with Mr. Malfoy at Malfoy Manor. Albus wasn't sure exactly what they were doing, something about his Dad working with Mr. Malfoy trying to identify items with dark magic, he didn't really care though.

The weeks following Easter before the beginning of summer, Albus and Scorpios tried to come up with some way for Albus to come over during summer. Though they had come up with quite a few ideas, none had been possible for the two young Slytherins to pull off. As it turned out, all it took was for Albus to get grounded. Albus couldn't wait for Scorpios to find out. He wished he could write his friend, but Albus didn't have an owl of his own. Even if he wasn't grounded it would be impossible to send a letter with the family owl without his parents knowing where it was going.

The first day of his punishment Albus could hardly contain his excitement. On the outside he tried to seem as moody and upset as he could, but on the inside he was jumping for joy. He guessed that he must be a pretty good actor because half way through breakfast Lilly started sending him pity looks. When it was time to floo to the Malfoys Albus couldn't help the grin that broke onto his face.

"Hello Mr. Malfoy sir." Albus greeted politely.

"Potter." Malfoy nodded in greeting. "Pleasure seeing you again. I'm glad that you didn't get my son into any more trouble."

Just then Harry came through the fire place.

"Potter." Malfoy said again in greeting, only this time in a much harsher voice.

"Malfoy." Albus's farther said back, matching the other man's tone.

"Now, since your little spawn is being forced to join you, he can stay in the library. I'm sure he will find something in there to occupy his time." Mr. Malfoy said. Albus gulped. He didn't know why, but he felt whatever was in the library would not exactly be fun. "It's down the hall, third door on the right." Albus nodded, though he already knew where it was. After looking at his father who nodded for him to do what he was told, Albus set off. As Albus walked down the familiar hall, he could hear the two men start to bicker.

When Albus opened the door, he was surprised at how different the library looked since the last time he had seen it. Every book from every shelf had been taken down. Albus assumed that the books were in the boxes that were placed around the room. After standing in the entrance for a few moments, Albus saw a mop of blond hair appear from behind one of the shelves.

"Albus!" Scorpius yelled excitedly. Running towards his friend and hugging him. "I was so happy when my dad told me you would be coming with your father."

"I know. How lucky is it that my punishment is to come here. I definitely dodged a bullet with this one" Albus said. Hugging his best friend back.

"Well…" Scorpius started, pulling away. "You didn't completely. Remember how my dad said I would be punished this summer. Well, my dad has decided that the library needs to be completely reorganised. I was going to have to do it alone, but now you're here my dad says it can be your punishment too."

Albus grounded. "I knew it was too good to be true. Oh well, at least we can still hang out."

The boys went through box after box. Each book needed to be dusted, wiped down with a magic preserver to keep the books in good condition, and placed in their proper spot on the shelf. Any book that was damaged had to be repaired using a book keeper kit. It would fix tares in paper, make ink that had faded more visible, and would fix the spine of books whose pages were falling out of. After a week and a half they were only about half way through.

"This will take forever." Albus complained after knocking down several books by mistake.

"I know." Scorpius said, finally finishing with a really old book that he had been working on for the past hour. "Let's take a break." He suggested.

"But we just had lunch not that long ago."

"Albus Severus Potter, are you really protesting against skiving off from doing work."

"Yeah you're right, we need a break, So where should we go?" Albus asked.

"I don't know, you're the guest.

"Well it's your house."

"hmm." Said Scorpius thoughtfully, "well we can't go anywhere on the main floor since our fathers are working there, and the staircase to go upstairs in the main foyer, past the room that they are in so we would surely be seen. It's raining outside, so that's out of the question."

"Is there any place other than this stupid library we could go."

"I thought you liked the library."

"I do. When the books are on the shelves." Albus grumbled, setting down the book he had been working on.

"We could go explore the dungeon." Scorpius suggested.

"The dungeon!" The other boy exclaimed.

"Whatever you are thinking, it's really not as cool."

"Dungeon"

"It's really more like a big cell"

"Your house has a dungeon."

"Okay fine yes, my house has a dungeon." Scorpios said, giving up. "I think your father and uncle were kept there once."

"Wow really. I know my dad mentioned he was held at your mansion during the war, but he never said anything about a dungeon or a cell."

"Yep. And I think he was the last person to be kept there ever. After your dad and uncle escaped the war really took off so there wasn't time to capture anyone else. Once it was over, my dad said it was a long time before my grandfather came back here, and as far as I know my dad has never held anyone." Scorpius explained.

"Wow." Said Albus.

"I was never aloud down there. My mum hated them. She always said she'd do something with them." At the mention of his mother, Scorpius's face fell.

"I would love to explore the dungeon." Said Albus, trying to get the conversation back to them exploring.

Scorpius led the way as the two boys snuck their way around the main floor until they reached the stairs leading to the dungeon. At the bottom of the stairs were bars and a cell door that was slightly ajar. Slipping past the door both boys felt their heart beat quicken.

"Wow you're right; it is more like a big cell." Said Albus, trying not to let his voice shake

"Yeah, it's really cool" lied Scorpius

After a moment the boys started to walk further into the damp, dark cell, not wanting to the other to know that they were scared. The boys stayed close to one another and tried to maneuver the cell the best they could with their limited vision.

Suddenly, Albus's foot connected with an unknown object, kicking it across the floor, startling the Slytherins. Both boys jumped and started to run, neither one stopping nor slowing down until they reached the library.

It was only when they had calmed themselves down did the boys notice that somewhere along the line they had started to hold each other's hand. When neither one pulled away they silently agreed to keep them connected for the rest of the day.

It was over a week before Albus's dad returned to the Manor, which Albus was secretly relieved about. Though he would never admit it, the dungeon had really scared him and even the thought of being near it made him feel anxious.

When he entered the library he found it almost completely untouched from the last time. He presumed that Scorpius had been allowed a break until Albus had returned to help him. By the time lunch rolled around they had finished two boxes each. In the afternoon Albus had slowed down significantly. It had been over an hour and he wasn`t even half way through the box he was working on. Letting out a long sigh Albus finished working on his current book and set it down, but before he could start on another, he felt a hand grab his own.

"Come on let's get out of here" Scorpius said, starting to pull Albus towards the door

"What do you mean?" Albus's mind immediately jumped to the dungeon and he started squirm nervously.

"It's such a nice day out. Let's go walk around the grounds for a while"

"Oh okay" Albus said calming down.

The two boys walked hand in hand down the hallway towards the back of the house, where they knew their fathers wouldn't be able to seem them.

year 2 Summer

Up until now Scorpius's Christmas break had been wonderful. His dad had taken him to see some of the great Wizarding sights in New Zealand, then they had spent time at his grandparent's house in France, his grandfather had been on his own trip to Italy, so it was just his father and grandmother Narcissa. Scorpius didn't like his grandfather very much, so his absents made the whole visit better. Then one morning, with only a few days left before he would be returning to school, his father had to ruin it by informing him that he was hosting the Ministry New Year's party.

Scorpius knew how important this party was. His father had worked hard to rebuild the family name and being allowed to host the ministry New Year's party was going to help immensely. But despite all that, Scorpius could feel nothing but dread for the upcoming event.

When the night of the party arrived, Scorpius put on the dress robes his father had set out for him and brushed his hair back neatly. He was prepared for a night of being paraded around by his father to get judged by all of the Ministry higher ups.

At a quarter to eight he met his father in the main foyer to greet the guest as they arrived. After the first fifteen guest Scorpius was bored. After fifty he wondered if anyone had ever died greeting guests or if he would be the first. Just when Scorpius thought that he couldn't stand greeting guests any longer he caught sight of one Albus Potter.

When Albus and his family entered the Mansion, Scorpius couldn't help but grin at his friend. His father hadn't told him that the Potters were coming. This New Year's party just got a whole lot better.

"Can I go now?" Scorpius asked after his father had finished giving them a not so warm welcome

"You're supposed to be greeting the guests"

"I know, but I want to go hang out with Al"

"You have a duty, Scorpius."

Scorpius gowned but turned back to the door to great the next family that was coming in. After they had walk off his father turned to him again.

"Alright, you may go."

"You mean it?" Scorpius asked, his whole face lighting up.

"Yes" his father said, though Scorpius hadn't waited for a response he had already started to race off. "Duty Scorpius." Scorpius only slowed his pace slightly at his father's words.

Unfortunately Scorpius wasn't able to go over to Albus immediately. He was standing with his parents and siblings and Scorpius knew that only trouble would come if he went over there and started to talk to his best friend.

Instead Scorpius watched and waited and eventually his patients paid off. James had gone off to flirt with a young witch, Lily had found a few friends from Hogwarts, and Mr. and Ms. Potter were busy talking to a young couple that they seemed to know quite well. Taking his chance Scorpius walked up behind Albus and tapped him on the shoulder. After getting the other boy's attention, Scorpius motioned Albus to follow.

Once out in the hall away from the party Scorpius threw his arms around his friend.

"I didn't know you were going to be here!"

"I found out last week and couldn't wait" said Albus returning the hug

"This is so great. I was completely dreading this party, but now that you're here it won't be bad at all" pulling away from the embrace Scorpius led them down the hall to the library.

"I still get nightmares about cleaning this place" Albus said as the entered.

"Me too, that was the worst thing I've ever had to do in my life"

The boys sat down in two comfy chairs that faced each other and started to tell excitedly what they had done over the break. After a while Scorpius called on one of the house elves to get the hot coco and a few plates of food from the party. After thanking the elf they continued to talk, moving from topic to topic.

"Aren't you worried that your parents will notice that you aren't at the party? " Scorpius asked a few hours later.

"Not really. There are quite a few people here that my parents haven't seen in a while so they'll be too busy to think too much on my absents. They'll probably think I found some friends or went off with Lily."

Scorpius was just about to continue on with their conversation when they hear a loud boom coming from outside the house. Jumping up Scorpius grabbed a hold of Albus's hand and pulled him up as well.

"Come on, the fireworks have started. I know a great place we can watch them from. "

Scorpius led Albus upstairs and out onto a balcony that looked over the backyard. From there the boys could see the other party guests down below.

"Wow" Albus said looking out from the balcony. Just then there was another loud boom, the sky lit up and the image of a dragon appeared flying around the clouds.

"Those are amazing" it was Scorpius's turn to be awed.

"I think those are my uncle's" said Albus

"Well my father did say he wanted the best"

There was another explosion and this time the sky was filled with the best Quidditch player's from different teams. The players zipped around, one almost running into boys who ducted just in time for it to miss and fly over their heads.

The next display was of the Hogwarts's houses. Each house's badge appeared in the sky and their respected animal emerged from it. An eagle flew towards the crowd from Ravenclaw, a lion pounced over head from Gryffindor, a badger scurried around the sky from Hufflepuff, and a serpent slithered around from Slytherin. A big cheer would come from the crowed as people saw their house's badge and animal appeared up above.

Amazing display after amazing display appeared in the night sky, from a heard of unicorns prancing around majestically, to thousands of galleons raining down before fizzling out inches from the guests. There were recreations of historical wizarding events and ogres doing the tango. Finally one of the explosions turned into a countdown that all of the guests joined in to read out. When it reached zero, a bunch of other fireworks went off and the counter changed to read happy New Year.

As the boys and the rest of the guests cheered Albus grabbed a hold of Scorpius's hand. He couldn't help but think that this New Year's definitely beat last year when Rose 'accidentally' gave James a candy that made his tongue swell up three times its normal sizes that just so happen to take effect while he was snogging a girl.

As the crowed stated to wonder back inside, Albus and Scorpius walked back down towards the party. When they reached the main hallway they hugged and said goodbye, knowing that they wouldn't get another chance.

When Albus rejoined his family his mother asked him where he had gone off too. He told her he had found some friends from Hogwarts before switching the topic to the firework show. At the door Albus was able to send one last smile towards Scorpius before apparating home with his parents.

year 3 Summer

Albus laid awake unable to sleep, the rest of his family presumably passed out, the row he'd had with his parents on replay in his mind. He hadn't meant to cast a spell, let alone cast one in the middle of muggle London. Lily had dropped her bag of candy in the dark movie theatre and he had cast lumos before even realizing what he was doing. It was a complete accident; need to see in a dark place? Cast lumos. It was second nature, something he and almost every wizard did without thinking. He had stopped the spell a second later when he realized what he was doing, but the damage had already been done. He father had immediately jumped into action and said loudly something about "turn that cellphone off right now" whatever that meant and his mother had rushed them out of there as quickly as she could.

Once they had gotten home both his parents had ripped into him. Though his mother did most of the yelling his father did add quite a bit. Albus had started out apologizing profusely, but when his mother was still having a go at him ten minutes later, Albus snapped. And that's when everything had gone to hell. His mum had blamed him for all the stress she and his father were under, Albus blamed them for putting him under too much pressure to be perfect. She had told him to stop acting like a spoiled prat, he told her that is she wanted to find a spoiled prat go get Lily and James because she spoiled them not him. It went back and forth like that for a good long while before his father was finally able to break them up and send him away, obviously taking his mother side.

Even thinking about the row made Albus tear up, which only made him mad at himself, he was going into year four, he should not be crying over some stupid fight. But some of the things his mother had said had really stung.

Then Albus did something completely impulsive and entirely stupid: he got out of bed, quietly opened his door, listened to make sure everyone was sleeping, snuck through the hall and down the stairs, walked into the living room to the fire place, grabbed a handful of floo powder, stood under the chimney, threw the powder to the ground, and as loudly as he dared said "Malfoy Manor".

Albus blamed his actions on a mix of being upset over the fight and the fact that he hadn't been able to visit Scorpius once during last summer and this break had been looking like it was going to turn out the same. But standing in the middle of Malfoy Manor uninvited at Merlin knows what hour of the night; the reason why he did it didn't really matter. Before Albus lost his nerve or could come to his senses he started to make his way through the house to Scorpius's room.

Knocking on his door, Albus waited for the boy inside to wake up. After a moment the door opened to reveal a very groggy looking Scorpius.

"w-wha- who- Al-Abus?" Scorpius asked blinking a few times as if to make sure he wasn't still dreaming

"Um hi"

"No offence, but why and how are you in my house at 2:23 am"

Just then the gravity of what he was actually doing hit Albus with full force "oh, oh my, Scorpius I'm so sorry, I- there was a fight with my parents and I didn't think- there was so much yelling I was upset, oh Merlin what have I done, I was- I just wanted to see you I was so upset and I didn't think- oh Merlin I'm so stupid I'm so sorry –I'm-"

"Hey, it's alright" Scorpius said bring Albus into a hug. By this point the other boy had completely lost it. There were tears streaming down his face and his whole body shook as he sobbed. Albus was so out of it that he didn't even notice Scorpius walking them back into his room, the door closing behind them, and to his bed where he got Albus to sit down.

For the next while Scorpius rubbed Albus's back as the other boy told him about the incident at the theatre and the fight he'd had with him mother. Eventually Albus stopped crying and started to calm down so Scorpius laid down and got Albus to do the same, Albus's head using Scorpius's chest as a pillow. Scorpius continued to rub the other boy's back and periodically Albus would let out a sniffle. At just around three am the boys fell asleep, curled up together.

In the morning Albus woke still laying on Scorpius, he knew that he should move away, but he was still extremely tired and found that this position was really comfy. Just as he was about to fall back asleep, he felt Scorpius stir.

"G'mornin" Scorpius mumbled sleepily

"Morning" Albus mumbled back. He was expecting for Scorpius to kick him off or ask him too move, but was surprised when, after a moment, he felt arms tighten around him. Letting out a content sigh Albus relaxed into the embrace.

"We should get up. It's just after six and I'm assuming you want to get home before your parents wake up. Unless you want to explain to them where you spent the night" Scorpius said sounding as disappointed as Albus felt.

"Yeah you're probably right" Albus said, "hey um thanks for last night. What I did was stupid and I'm sorry, I should have done it."

"It's no problem, I mean it. And if you ever need to do it again feel free." Scorpius said

"Thanks, you really are the best friend. And if you ever need to you can do the same to me" at that Scorpius snorted

"I'd love to see how your family reacts waking up to find a Malfoy in their sons bed" Albus couldn't help but burst out laughing at the thought of what his family would say. When the boys stopped laughing they finally decided that they should really be getting up.

When they made their way to the kitchen they were surprised to find Mr. Malfoy already there, drinking a cup of tea and reading the Daily Prophet.

"I know I've been really busy with work, but I think I would know if we had invited a guest over" he said, setting down the newspaper and looking at the two Slytherins.

"Please don't be mad father. Al had a really big fight with his parents last night and was upset. He just wanted to get away for a while"

"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy. What I did was wrong and it won't happen again"

"Oh it's alright. I understand the need to get away for a bit, especially when it comes to arguing with parents. Our door is always open when you need it Albus"

"T-Thank you" Albus said, shocked that he wasn't being dragged home this very moment to face his parents.

After the shock wore off the boys grabbed a piece of toast each and sat down. As they ate they made comfortable talk with Mr. Malfoy and when they were done all three of them made their way to the fireplace. Both Scorpius and his father said goodbye, Mr. Malfoy once again reassuring Albus that he wasn't mad and that he could do it again if he ever needed to.

When Albus arrived home he quickly tried to clean up any traces that the fireplace had be used before quietly making his way back to his room. He only had to wait around ten minutes before his parents woke up. He waited until he heard Lily get up before he ventured out. In the kitchen the atmosphere was tense and he could tell that his mother was still upset with him. After they left for work and Lily had gone outside, Albus went back to his room and lied down. Letting out a sigh he tried to imagine he was back to when he first woke up that morning and how calm and comfortable it had been. After a while Albus fell back to seep.

The next time Albus showed up at Malfoy Manor in the middle of the night was a week later when he had had another row with his family. Though that one hadn't been as bad as the first, Albus still felt upset and took comfort lying next to Scorpius. As the summer went on his excuses for going over there became weaker. From feeling upset, to he couldn't sleep and finally because it was too hot in his room. After the fifth time he showed up Albus didn't even bother knocking on Scorpius's door, he just walked into his room where Scorpius would be lift up the covers waiting for him to get into bed.

year 5 Summer

"Are you sure you have everything"

"Yes mum"

"And you know the address to give the driver"

"Yes mum"

"And you know to hold on while the bus is driving"

"Yes mum"

"Okay okay, I'm just making sure"

"I've been on the knight bus before"

"Not by yourself" his father said

"I'll be fine" Albus said, starting to get annoyed.

"And you'll send a patronus if anything happens"

"Yes dad"

"Alright, well I guess you better get going" his dad said giving him hug

"Mind your manners" said his mum, kissing his cheek.

Finally being able to leave Albus picked up his bag and walked out of Grimmauld place. Standing at the curb, Albus raised his wand hand and a few seconds later a big purple bus appeared in front of him.

When asked where he wanted to go, he told the man of the little café in Wiltshire that Scorpius told him they could meet at. It was busy on the bus, so Albus claimed the first open bed, deciding that it wasn't worth trying to find another one.

Albus found it amazing how far he'd come from first year. He remembered being nervous lying to his parents in a quick latter, now he was lying to their face without a second thought. He told his parents that he was staying with Markus Tyler, a Hufflepuff muggle born in his year. He had suggested that he take the knight bus because Markus's parents were still really wary about magic and arriving in a bus would make them feel more comfortable then appearing out of thin air.

Albus had been worried it would be hard to convince them, but after he showed them a letter and they asked Lily and Rose if Markus was a good kid, he was allowed to go. Albus had even given them a phone number they could call if they needed to get in touch with him.

Though Markus Tyler was a real student in Hufflepuff that he was friends with, in actuality the letter he had shown his parents had been written by Scorpius and the phone number was for a Chinese restaurant, if his parents called it he would just apologize for writing down Markus's phone number wrong.

Albus had seen Scorpius's quite a few times over the summer, going over once or twice a week to stay the night, like he'd done the year before, but telling his parents that he was going to a friend's meant that he could spend a week at the Manor.

Though just going over during the night was good enough, Albus missed being able to just hang out with Scorpius. He also surprisingly missed talking to Mr. Malfoy and seeing the rest of the Manor.

Albus had been prepared to have to wait a while before his stop; so was surprised when after only seven other people had gotten off he was informed that he would be next. Apparently someone else had gotten off in Wiltshire. Getting off the bus Albus found Scorpius sitting at one of the Café tables, he was the only one around since the café was closed for the night.

After greeting his friend, Albus was led back to Malfoy Manor. It was really weird seeing it looming in the distance getting ever closer. Any other time he had visited he had either apparated to just outside the main gate or flooed directly inside. Looking at it from far away he could understand why so many feared it, but Albus knew of the love and warmth that the Manor held and felt no fear walking towards it.

Once at the Manor Albus greeted Mr. Malfoy before being taken upstairs. Albus didn't even bother going into the guest room that had been set up for him. Instead he walked into Scorpius's room and put down his stuff before changing and climbing into his best friend's bed.

It was surprising how easily they fell into their old routine from the first time Albus had come over. Only this time instead of exploring they would walk the grounds, and they didn't spy on muggles but rather spent hours looking around their shops. Albus decided to buy a few things that he could show his parents to help cement his lie. He got a bag of good looking muggle candy, a postcard of France that didn't move, balloons you had to blow up yourself, and something called a mini fan that would move air when you turned it on.

One the day before Albus was supposed to go home, she arrived and ruined everything.

They had planned on spending the day curled up in the library, drinking hot coco and taking turns reading out loud some of their favourite child hood stories. Mr. Malfoy had been out at work, and the two boys were left on their own. It was early afternoon and Scorpius was just finishing up his current story when one of the house elves nocked on the library door.

"Excuse me young mast Malfoy, there is someone at the door asking for you."

"Thank you" Scorpius said dismissing the house elf

"Were you expecting anyone?" Albus asked

"No, I have no idea who that could possibly be."

"Well I guess we better go find out" said Albus standing up and stretching.

Scorpius agreed and got up as well. The two boys slowly made their way through the Manor, a little hesitant to find out who was at the door. When they got to the main foyer, Albus saw a young witch with long blond hair wearing a light blue summer dress, who looked to be around their age standing there looking at a painting hanging on the wall. Albus didn't recognise her so figured she must not go to Hogwarts.

"Myra?" Scorpius asked. The girl turned around a little caught off guard. "What are you doing here?"

To say Albus was confused would be an understatement. In all their years of friendship Scorpius had never mentioned knowing someone named Myra, let alone being friends with one.

"I am sorry to drop in unannounced, but I have missed you." Myra said walking closer to the boys. Albus could pick up on a slight French accent while she spoke. "I know you said that you were busy this week, but I wanted to get something for mère's birthday and I'm not allowed in Diagon alley on my own. I was hoping you could accompany me"

"I'm sorry Myra but as you can see I have a guest" Scorpius motioned to Albus. Myra flickered her eyes towards the other boy as if only now realising there was someone else in the room.

"Oh well we'd only be a little while, couldn't he stay here?" Myra asked fluttering her eyelashes

"I'm not going to leave my guest while he is here"

"Oh. Okay. Well I guess I'll just have to apologize to mère. I'm sure she'll understand when I tell her you were too busy to take me shopping"

"Myra…."

"No it's okay Scorpius." Myra said hotly, making it obvious that it was not okay. She was almost at the door when Scorpius stopped her.

"Myra wait" he said, calling her back. Turning to Albus he motioned the other boy to follow him into a side room.

"What in Merlin's name is going on? Who is she? You have never mentioned her before" Albus demanded

"I haven't known her that long. My father introduced us at the begging of the summer."

"The beginning of summer? Scor I've spent at least one night a week at your house and you never bothered to mention her"

"I'm sorry. Look I'm not happy about her coming here, but I have to go with her." Scorpius said

"Why? Why do you _have_ to go with her? Why is she sooo important?"

"She's not. It just wouldn't be proper for me to turn her down. And if I do she will surly tell her mother who will tell my dad, then I'll be in big trouble."

"Oh my god. Scorpius, is she your girlfriend?"

"No, yes, no, I don't know, sort of"

"Oh my god, she's your girlfriend and you never even bothered to tell me"

"It's not like that. It wasn't exactly my choice. It's duty as my father puts it. Though I will get a final say on who I marry, he has to approve." Scorpius said, trying to explain

"He's not making you ditch me, that's all you"

"Look I'm sorry, but it's the proper thing to do"

"No I get it; I'm not some pretty young witch you can go parading around Diagon ally with. That wouldn't be _proper"_ Albus said bitterly

"It's not like that I promise. Like she said it won't take that long and while I'm there I can pick up a pack of those 101 flavours of hot coco and we can stay up all night trying out as many as we can" Scorpius said, trying desperately to make Albus happy.

"Whatever" Albus said, turning and walking out of the room back to the library.

Knowing that there was nothing left he could, Scorpius went back to Myra and flooed with her to Diagon Alley. Albus sat around for about an hour before going and packing his things. He then left a quick note for Scorpius

 _Gone home_

 _-A_

Before flooing back to his house. Luckily no one was home when he arrived so Albus put his stuff away in his room before flopping on the bed. He spent most of the afternoon crying for reasons he couldn't understand until he eventually fell asleep. Later when he woke up he headed down into the kitchen and found his mother already home.

"Oh Albus, is everything all right? Why are you here? What happened? You weren't supposed to come back until tomorrow night. _"_ She rushed over to him and started giving him a once over.

"Yeah mum, everything is fine, I just wasn't feeling too well so I decided to come today" He mumbled trying to sound reassuring.

"Hmm, you don't feel warm, but you definitely don't look that good. Why don't you go back upstairs and rest or a while, I'll come up and check on you later."

Albus did just that, but if his mother ever came up to check on him he didn't know. The next time he woke up it was already the next day.

Though there was still two weeks left before school, Albus didn't sneak out to go to Scorpius's during the night. When he got on the train to Hogwarts he didn't even try to sneak off and find him, and at the feast he sat in the middle of his other friends. In fact he didn't talk to Scorpius at all until late on their first night.

He had been lying in his four poster bed, the curtains pulled around him, listening to the other boys in his dorm. He was moments away from sleep when heard rustling and the sound of someone getting out of bed. After a moment he heard someone move the curtains around his bed and felt someone pull back the sheets and lie down beside him. Albus made a point of not rolling over, he knew it was Scorpius.

"I broke it off with Myra." Albus didn't turn around, "I'm sorry about just ditching you. I should have told you about Myra the first night you stayed over and I don't blame you for just going home. I was being a prat and I'm sorry." Still Albus stayed facing the other way. He felt Scorpius make to get up from the bed.

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have just left. That was rude. I'm also sorry about you and Myra" Albus said, finally looking at his friend.

"It's for the best, I never liked her anyways. I may have only known her for the summer, but I know she isn't the one I want to spend the rest of my life with"

"So are we okay?" Albus asked

"Yeah, we're okay" Scorpius said, settling back down into the bed. Albus rolled over and snuggled into Scorpius's side.

"Night Scor"

"Night Al"

year 5 summer

Albus couldn't wait for this afternoon. His brother had already left to stay with a 'friend', Lily was leaving any minuet to go to the Burrow, and then his parents would leave for their trip with his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. Rose was off visiting uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur in France, and Hugo was on his own trip with his friend and his friend`s family. Albus would be left completely alone, which meant he was going to Scorpius'.

Albus waited exactly one hour after his parents left to make sure that no one apparated back to grab something. As soon as he was sure no one was coming back, he grabbed a bag he had already packed and flooed to Malfoy Manor. Albus didn't get a chance to fully step out of the fireplace before the blond boy had flung himself at him.

"Al! I've missed you"

"Calm down Scorp, you saw me three days ago"

"Yeah, but now we have four days to ourselves"

"To ourselves? What, am I going somewhere?" Mr. Malfoy joked as he walked into the room

"Ourselves and my father" Scorpius corrected

"Hello Mr. Malfoy"

"Hello Albus"

Mr. Malfoy summoned a house elf to take Albus's bag upstairs before leading the two Slytherins to the table where supper had already been set out. Throughout the meal Albus filled Scorpius and his father in on what he had done over the summer thus far, and what his plans were for the remainder of the break. Scorpius did the same for Albus, Mr. Malfoy jumping in on the occasion to correct his son. When they had finished eating Scorpius and Albus went to the library where they found two cups of coco already sitting out. The two boys talked long into the night before going upstairs to Scorpius' room. When they enter Albus was surprised to find his stuff set beside the bed, he had been expecting to have to go retrieve them from the guest room across the hall.

In the morning Albus woke to find Scorpius still dead asleep. As quietly and carefully as he could, Albus untangled himself from the other boy and got out of bed. Walking into the kitchen he wasn't surprised to find Mr. Malfoy already up, dressed, and eating breakfast. After saying good morning Albus took a seat. Mr. Malfoy snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared.

"Please take young Mr. Potter's breakfast request" the house elf nodded at his command,

"Oh, um, just some fried eggs and a glass of water please" Albus said hesitantly. The house elf nodded and was just about to go prepare the food when Mr. Malfoy stopped it.

"Actually, from now on whenever Mr. Potter is staying here you may treat him as a Master" Mr. Malfoy said to the elf "and please pass on this new order to the others" nodding to show that he understood, the house elf walked farther into the kitchen to go make Albus's food.

"So, what do you boys have planned for the next few days?" Mr. Malfoy asked

"Nothing that I know of. We'll probably go wonder the muggle town like we did last time. I think Scorpius said something about possibly visiting Diagon Alley" Albus replied

"Hmm, yeah he told me the same thing. I was just trying to find out if you boys had anything secret planed. Scorpius was driving me up the wall for days waiting for you to come over."

"I promise you Mr. Malfoy, as far as I know there is nothing special planned. Scor just doesn't have any patients"

"He really doesn't, does he? You should see him on the first day of school"

"You should see him on the last" Albus said laughing

"What are you two laughing about?" A sleepy Scorpius asked entering the kitchen

"You" Albus said cheekily. Just then the house elf set a plate in front of Albus.

"Mmm that looks good" I still very not a wake Scorpius said, "I'll have the same please"

"Of course young Master Malfoy. And would young Master Potter like anything else?" The house elf waited until Al shook his head before walking away

"Master Potter?" Scorpius asked confused

"Yes, I have decided that Albus should be treated as a Master. Merlin knows he's over here enough" Mr. Malfoy said

"Sweet" Scorpius said taking a seat next to Albus.

After breakfast the Slytherins did in fact go into the muggle town. They wondered through the stores and marveled at the muggle items. For lunch they went into the café that they had met at the last time Albus had come over. It was a small little shop and not that busy. Later the boys continued wondering the streets before returning to the Manor for dinner.

The next day Albus once again woke before Scorpius and once again greeted Mr. Malfoy in the kitchen. After Mr. Malfoy had left for work Albus waited for Scorpius to get up before getting something to eat.

The morning after that they spent lazing around the Manor, before spending the afternoon in Diagon alley. All though they stayed far away from the Albus' uncle's joke shop, they still had a close call, when Albus turned around and saw his sister siting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. As soon as Albus saw her, he grabbed the back of Scorpius's shirt and dragged him into the nearest shop. After that they rushed to the nearest fireplace and got back to the Manor before they had another chance to be seen.

The next day they decided it would be safer to stay inside the Manor, though they doubted any of Albus's family would be in Wiltshire, they still didn't want to risk it. They slept in late, missing the chance to have breakfast with Mr. Malfoy before he left. They ate breakfast on one of the balconies and reminisce about the night they spend watching the fireworks. That launched them into a conversation about all of the trouble they had gotten into over the years.

After hours of talking about anything and everything the two Slytherin were interrupted when an owl landed on the railing.

"What have you got there?" Scorpius asked walking over and taking the letter from the bird. Albus watched as he opened and quickly scanned the letter. After a moment Scorpius groaned.

"What's it about?" Albus asked standing up and walking to his friend

"It's from Annie, she's the latest witch my dad is trying to set me up with, she wants to know if I can hang out tomorrow." Explained Scorpius, "I best go send a reply telling her that I already have plans for the day"

"You sure you don't want to ditch me to go hang out?" Albus asked jokingly

"Oi!" Scorpius said in mock offence, "I apologized for that. And I've explained that I had no other choice"

"I know, I know." Albus said dismissively, "I wasn't even specifically referring to that time"

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked, dropping the playful tone

"Oh you know Scorp" Albus said, still trying to dismiss the topic

"No I don't. I only ever ditched you once, and as I said before I apologized. What are you referring too?"

"Come one Scor, you ditched me all year."

"What are you talking about?" Scorpius asked, starting to get frustrated.

"Almost every other weekend you were going home to be introduced to some new girl. And if you weren't doing that, then you were leaving me to meet up with them at school." Albus said

"Oh come on Al, you can't honestly be blaming me. You know how my father is."

"Well you never seemed to try too hard to get out of meeting them." Albus retorted

"I didn't want to disappoint my dad. And like you can talk"

"What do you mean?" Albus asked getting offended

"You ditched me all the time to go meet up with that Ravenclaw girl."

"I told you, I was helping her study." Albus said defensively

"Yeah, likely story. The only reason anyone hangs with Abby Morise is to get into her pants"

"I never slept with her" Albus said getting mad

"Oh come on Al, how daft do you think I am? I'm just upset that I had to hear it from the school sluts, instead of from you."

"I told you I never slept with her"

"Alright" Scorpius said, clearly not believing him

"Even if I did sleep with her, which I didn't, why would I tell you? You never told me about all the girls you've slept with"

"That's because I've never slept with any of them"

"You're telling me that out of all the girls you've met up with over the year, all of the times you'd disappear for hours to hang out with them, and not once you slept with any of them? And you excuse me of thinking you're daft."

"I swear I didn't sleep with any of them." It was Scorpius's turn to get defensive

"You know what Scor, if after all our years of friendship you still want to lie and keep things from me, that's fine. At least now I know how much you actually care about our friendship."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about? Al, you're my best friend. If anything it's you who doesn't value our friendship if you don't trust and believe me."

"Maybe I'd trust you if you told me the truth"

"I am"

"And here you go, just proving my point"

"Honestly Al, you're nothing but a hypocrite. You excuse me of not valuing our friendship. Well at least I'm not embarrassed by it"

"What are you-"

"I value our friendship so much that I spent the last five years pretending that we weren't. Every party, Hogsmeade visit, class partnership, anything that every other pair of best friends got to do together I couldn't do it with mine. All because you don't want anyone to know about us.

"How many bloody times do I have to tell you about my family's reaction to your name? All I have to do is say Scorpius, and they all look ready to either spit at you or hex you. I'm just trying to protect you."

"Protect me? Is that really what you're calling it? How thick do you think I am?"

"You know what? If you're so sick of having to put up with me then go find a knew best friend to hang out with." And with that Albus turned and stormed back inside. Scorpius didn't bother to follow. When Scorpius finally did return inside, he wasn't overly surprised to find Albus and his stuff gone.

That summer was the first time that the Slytherins had fought. They had argued before, but that was something different. It took ages for the pair to make up, but even then their relationship wasn't back to the way it had been. After that first fight it seemed that the boy's couldn't go more than a week without having another. Though they always made up, it was only a matter of time before they had another.

year 6 Christmas

By the time Christmas break rolled around, Albus was tired of the snarky comments and fights that were transpiring between him and his supposed best friend. It also didn't help that just days before they had one of their biggest fights in the middle of a lesson which had eventually ended with both boy's getting two weeks' worth of detention, which of course most of his family had patted him on his back for.

Despite recent events, Albus had still found himself getting Scorpius a Christmas gift. Albus had not intended to get Scorpius anything this year, but when he came across a beautiful snow glob that changed what location it showed, Al couldn't stop himself from buying it.

For the first week of Christmas break he had insisted that the snow glob was for Rose, he even went as far as putting her name on the tag after he wrapped it. His self-imposed lie came crashing down Christmas day when, even after all the gifts had been opened and the Weasley-Grangers had gone home to get ready for the Burrow, the small package was still sitting on his bedroom desk.

It took five minutes of internal debating before Albus impulsively grabbed the gift and ran out of the house, quickly shouting that he was going to a friend and wouldn't be too long. The last thing he heard before the door closed him was the sound of his mother yelling back not to even think about leaving.

When Albus stepped into the Malfoy Manor his nerves reminded him of the first time he had flood unannounced, it was Christmas day after all and Albus had shown up without warning. Before Albus could chicken out however, Mr. Malfoy and Scorpius came into the room.

"Ah, merry Christmas Albus" Mr. Malfoy greeted

"Merry Christmas Mr. Malfoy, I'm sorry for interrupting. I can leave if you want"

"That's nonsense, you're always welcome here. Besides, you just saved Scorpius from having to pop over to his grandparents with me"

Albus looked past Mr. Malfoy to where Scorpius awkwardly stood; doing everything he could not to meet his best friend's eyes.

"Well I better be off, you two have fun. And Albus you are welcome to stay for dinner if you wish" And with that Mr. Malfoy was gone leaving the two boys alone.

"Let's go into the library" Scorpius suggested after a moment of thick silence. As they walked through the manor Albus couldn't help but wonder when things became so uncomfortable with supposed best friend. When they took their usual seats in the library Scorpius turned to him expectantly, it took a moment before Albus remembered why he was there in the first place.

"Oh right, um here, I got you a gift" Albus held out the small package, but instead of taking it Scorpius got up and started to leave.

"I'll be right back"

As seconds ticked on Albus took deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves before the other boy returned.

"Here" Albus had been so focused that he hadn't heard Scorpius' return, looking up he found a small rectangular package shoved in front of his face. Exchanging gifts the Slytherins fell back into their awkward silence. Albus gingerly opened the package, inside was a beautiful emerald green notebook with a pattern done in silver running across the cover.

"Al, this snow glob is beautiful" Albus looked across the room to find Scorpius shaking the glob completely fascinated at all the different locations it showed.

"Thanks, I got it cause you always said you wanted to travel someday."

"I love it Al, now I feel like a twat for just getting you a notebook"

"Don't, this notebook is amazing" Al said, reassuring his friend

"I got it since you are always trying to find paper to write down your ideas. I thought that now you could always have them in one place. And it's also resistant to fire, water and spells. Oh it also never runs out of paper. When you reach the end more pages appear but the book is never supposed to appear any bigger."

"Oh come here" Albus said, getting up to embrace his best friend

"Does this mean aren't fighting anymore?" Scorpius asked a little hesitantly

"Yep, you're back being stuck with me"

Scorpius let out a grown "I guess that's better than fighting"

"Yeah" Albus agreed "I hate fighting, especially with you"

"Well if you hate them so much you should stop picking them"

"Oi, I do not start our fights"

"Sure you don't"

"I should go" Albus said making to leave

"No wait Al don't"

"Look Scor, it's Christmas I don't want to fight with you" Albus was halfway down the hall before he felt warm pressure on his wrist and a tug that successfully turned him around. Before Albus could say or do anything, a pair of lips was on his.

Oh.

Oh.

Scorpius Malfoy was kissing him

Scorpius Malfoy, his best friend was kissing him

Scorpius very much a guy Malfoy who also happened to be his best friend was kissing him

So Albus kissed him back.

The kiss was tentative and awkward, neither one wanting to break the fragile moment. As suddenly as it had start it stopped, but neither boy pulled too far away. Green met silver as they stared into each other's eyes each too scared to move. Albus could swear he could hear how thick the tension was at that time. After what could have been seconds or hours their lips connected again. Later neither one could remember who had moved first, but in the moment it hadn't mattered.

This time the kiss was much more fierce and full of passion. Albus didn't remember moving, but when his back hit the wall he gladly used it for support. Fingers were in hair and nails dug into backs as their need to get closer overtook them. Unfortunately another need soon got pushed to the forefront and the boy's reluctantly pulled apart, gasping for air. Albus couldn't help the grin that broke out on his face, one look at Scorpius and he knew the other boy was having the same problem.

"Wow" was all Scorpius could get out before they were kissing once again.

"I really do have to go" Albus eventually managed to get out.

Four snogs later they finally managed to make their way outside and break apart long enough for Al to apparat

As soon as all arrived home he was met with his mother screams. He was so grounded for the rest of break, but Albus couldn't make himself care or force the smile on his face to go away.

year 6 summer

Since the progression of their relationship, Albus had tried more than usual to warm his family up to the idea of Scorpius, but even seven months later and they still acted as though he was the spawn of the devil. So when it came time for Albus to spend a week at a 'friends' he didn't even feel the slightest bit of guilt about lying to everyone.

When he arrived at the Manor he was immediately pulled into a kiss. It didn't last long however, as the sound of Mr. Malfoy's footsteps could be heard in the hallway. After greetings were shared and Albus was settled in, the boys found themselves in the library. They curled up in one seat, Albus using Scorpius's chest as a pillow while the other boy played with his hair.

They spent most of the day there, in each other's arms. It had been too long since the end of school and they had missed each other terribly. When night rolled around the pair of Slytherins made their way to Scorpius's room where they tangled themselves together before falling asleep.

The next day they decided to help Mr. Malfoy clean out some of the attic. Albus was fascinated by all the Malfoy history that he came across, even Scorpius found out things he never knew, but Mr. Malfoy binned almost everything. By the time they were finished the boys were too exhausted to move from their spot on the couch in the sitting room and ended up passing out there. In the morning they found a blanket draped over them and two steaming plates of breakfast set out.

On the third day Mr. Malfoy took them to a small muggle town in Scotland where they spent the day shopping. At first Albus refused to let Mr. Malfoy pay for his things, but eventually Mr. Malfoy threatened that he would force Albus to play Quidditch later if he didn't let him pay. When Scorpius told him his father was serious, Albus stopped complaining. That night they went to the movies and Scorpius held his hand throughout the film and when they went to a restaurant for dinner Albus hooked his foot around his boyfriend's ankle.

When Mr. Malfoy left for a three day business trip, the Slytherins had the run of the house. At lunch Scorpius decided that he wanted to try and cook something without help of the house elves. Everything was good until the food fight which ended in a heavy make out session on the floor while Albus was pinned down. Later Scorpius took him out on their first date. They went to small café in London and spent the afternoon on a muggle tour bus. Albus had been to London loads of times, but he had only ever been to a few places. The date was amazing and being in muggle London meant that they got to act like a couple without any fear.

When the perfect day ended, Albus found himself once again pinned down by Scorpius while he was being thoroughly kissed. Over the months since Christmas they had done a lot of things together, but tonight felt different. The kiss was full of passion but there was no underlining rush to it. Hands traced lazily down bodies and clothes were slowly disposed of. When Scorpius asked if he was sure he wanted to continue Albus didn't hesitate with his response. There was no doubt in his mind about wanting his first time to be with Scorpius.

In the morning Albus found that he was a bit sorer then what he had expected, but he didn't regret the previous night at all. Albus scribbled a quick note, leaving it on his pillow, before making his way quietly out of the room where Scorpius still slept. When he made his way into the kitchen Albus requested that breakfast be delivered to the balcony by Scorpius's room before he made two cups of hot coco and made is way there himself.

The sun had just raised high enough to cast everything in a warm orange glow when Albus heard Scorpius join him. He greeted the other boy with a kiss before handing him the second mug of hot chocolate. They stayed up there long after their plates had been cleared, just leaning up against the wall with their arms around each other.

"I love you "Albus murmured, he was afraid of destroying the beautiful moment, but he also knew that he had never been more sure of anything in his life. It was only a heartbeat later when Scorpius returned his felling.

They ended up back in Scorpius's bed and spent the rest of the day there. And the day after that. It wasn't until they heard Mr. Malfoy return that they decided they should get up for more than an hour or two.

That night at dinner Albus felt more nervous than he ever had before.

"So father" Scorpius started. Albus could tell he was just as nervous, "Me and um Albus, well we, uh"

"If you have something to say then say it Scorpius and it is Albus and I"

"Albus and I are together" Scorpius said it so fast that Albus didn't think Mr. Malfoy had caught what was said. He hoped. But when he eventually braved a glance and saw that Mr. Malfoy had an eyebrow raised, Albus knew he had understood perfectly.

"Go on" Mr. Malfoy said with no hint of emotion

"Me an- Albus and I are dating and nothing you can say can stop us from being together. He is my best friend and I love him, and he loves me too"

When Scorpius stopped talking the silence seemed to drag on. Albus felt like he was going to be sick at any moment and couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with either Malfoy. Just when Albus didn't think he could take the silence any longer, Mr. Malfoy burst out laughing.

"That's nice son, but how daft do you think I am. Of course you love each other, how blind do you think I am? Why do you think I tried to set you up with so many witches, it was my last ditch effort, but deep down I knew it wouldn't work. Why do you think I just suddenly stopped?"

"Err"

"Well Albus, officially welcome to family, as if you weren't already part of it"

"Oh um, thank you Mr. Malfoy"

The last day they had together the boy spent it mostly with Mr. Malfoy, they weren't daft enough to try anything while he was in the Manor, but it was nice just to act like their normal coupley selves while he was around. Mr. Malfoy even snuck a few photos of them. When Albus finally had to leave he gave Scorpius a long hug, wishing that he never had to let go.

He found his own house filled with people, he didn't really want to deal with his family, so instead he went up to his room under the pretence of unpacking but instead he flopped down on his bed, closed his eyes, and pretended that he was still at the manor.

-Graduated

Albus had finally found a secluded spot at the Burrow away from everyone else. Seventh year had come and gone for Albus Potter, and with every passing day his patients for his family grew ever thinner. He had only been out for three weeks and in that time they had done nothing but berate him for not yet knowing what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Not only that, but Albus had the unfortunate extra pressure of being a Potter; he couldn't just pick any job, which his parents were always egger to remind him of. Get a nameless job at the Ministry and everyone would think he only got it because of his father. Go into any normal simple job and he would be called a disappointment. Being a Potter meant Albus was expected to do something great and exciting. If that wasn't bad enough, his family had also stared to pester him about finding a girlfriend.

As he sat there he observed the other people in the room. They all looked so happy and content, laughing among themselves and sharing their favourite stories. That's when it hit Albus, he didn't belong here. Albus wasn't sure when he grew apart from his family, but there he was, sat alone with no one looking for him. He no longer had inside jokes or joined in on pulling pranks. Most of his cousins had grown up together, being sorted into either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff; he had been alone in Slytherin. Albus didn't fit his family anymore, he wasn't like them, and he didn't want what they wanted or dreamt about the things they did.

Albus stood up and made his way through the house to the back door, he wondered how long it would take before anyone noticed his absents. He intended to leave without saying goodbye to anyone, but when he found his mum in the kitchen he figured he should at least let her know he was leaving.

"I'm not feeling too well so I'm going home"

"Okay sweetie, there might still be a potion or two in the bathroom" Albus just grunted in response as he continued on his way.

As he stood alone in the dark he prepared to apparate. As he repeated 'home' in his head the image of his door step slowly changed with that of Malfoy Manor. Albus tried to refocus himself, but stopped. Malfoy Manor was his home. Mr. Malfoy had always treated him as a son, and it was where Scorpius was. Making up his mind, Albus twisted on the spot.

In all honesty Albus was impressed it only took his father two and a half weeks to track him down. He didn't have any leads to go off of and why would he son be in the home of is former arch enemy. Albus had been on his way back from the kitchen when he had heard the house elf at the door.

"I'm sorry sir, but young Master Malfoy and young Master Potter do not wish to be disturbed"

"What do you mean Master Potter? Why would my son be a Master in this awful place?"

"Because Master Malfoy made him one." The elf drudged out

"What? When was this?"

"Three years ago sir."

"What? You know what never mind, just let me see my son"

"I'm sorry sir, but as I said before they do not wish to be disturbed, good day" and with that the house elf closed the door.

Albus knew he probably should have confronted his father, but doing so would mean facing reality. Over the past weeks Albus had never been happier, but he knew that when he let the real world back in, all of it may come to an end. So instead Albus had stayed where he was out of site, and when the house elf closed the door he continued on with getting ready for the amazing date his boyfriend was going to take him on.

Albus wasn't surprised when two days later his father showed back up, only this time he wasn't alone. His mother and his uncle Ron were with him. He was glad that this time Mr. Malfoy was there with them. Albus and Scorpius had been dozing in bed when they heard Scorpius's father call for them to come down. Arriving in the sitting room Albus found his uncle with his wand raised at Mr. Malfoys, while his father had his own wand out.

Though Albus had bought his own clothes since his arrival, the shirt he put on clearly belong to Scorpius, there was no mistaking the custom fit cut that didn't belong on his body, and if the stairs were anything to go by, his family had obviously noticed.

"Hey" Albus started tentatively

"Albus Severes Potter I cannot believe you. How dare you run off without a word? Do you know how bloody worried I was when I came home to find the house empty. And then when you didn't return, of course I thought the worst, how couldn't I, after all the bloody shit that I've seen in my life. Your father worked day and night to track you down only to bloody find you lazing around in the Mansion of our enemy. I bloody know that you know what the Malfoy's have done to our family, yet you chose to run here?" his mother took a deep breath, but she wasn't done; she then started to call the Malfoy's every name in the book

"Sorry Mum" Albus said when his mother was finally finished.

"Sorry? All you have is a lousy Sorry?"

"What the bloody else am I supposed to say", Albus was finally done, he may not have done the right thing by running away, but he was done with listening to his family insult the nicest people he knew. "The only reason I didn't say anything was because of you lot. I spent the last seven years hiding my best friend from you because I was scared about how you would react. I was scared you'd make me leave him, but you know what, I'm done hiding, I chose Scorpius and his father. Mr. Malfoy has been nothing but kind and welcoming towards me, unlike you; he didn't judge someone because of who their parents are. I don't care what shit he did when he was younger, or what crap the rest of his family did, because that's not who this family is anymore and that is not who Scorpius is or ever was. Maybe you would know that if you didn't bother judging him by his last name. If you don't accept them, then you don't accept me. Because I belong here, I belong with them. "

"Oh Albus" his mother trailed off.

Albus stayed silent looking around the room. His mother looked deflated, while his father had put away his wand entirely. Even his uncle had lowered his and for once in his life looked as though he was at a loss for words.

Finally his father found his voice.

"You're right Albus; we shouldn't have judged a boy on who his family was. I find it hard to believe that Draco could be anything else besides cruel, but if you say that he is a good man then I will take your word. You have to give us time though Al, understand that the whole family has spent decades having a rivalry with the Malfoys and to change that completely is going to take a while. We need to see for ourselves the goodness that you say they have"

"You have four months" Albus deadpanned, looking each member of his family in the eyes

"Why do you needs to be all buddy buddy with the Malfoy's in four months?" his mother asked

"Because that's when Scorpius and I are having our wedding"


End file.
